The traditional answering machine elevated the art by offering a method to leave messages for a caller when the called party was unavailable to answer the telephone. Voice messages were available for replay at the answering machine by the called party, and later systems allowed remote playback over the telephone line. Subsequently, voice mail services were created which required no user-premise equipment and allowed for remote access by the called party. These voice mail systems are particularly popular with mobile subscribers.
However, voice mail systems are inferior to the traditional answering machine in one respect. They do not allow for real-time screening of incoming calls. Although other mechanisms exist to identify the caller (such as CallerID), those systems can be rendered ineffective either inadvertently or deliberately. For example, the CallerID display for incoming international calls often appears as “Unknown”. Also, CallerID service can be blocked by the caller, resulting in a display such as “Blocked” or “Private”. There are legitimate reasons for blocking the originating number when calls originate from abuse shelters, etc.
Thus, there is a need for an improved method that provides the ability for a wireless subscriber to access a calling party during a period in which a voice mail message is being created.